MODELING OF MUSCULOSKELETAL SYSTEMS USING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Muscles are organs whose primary function is to produce force and motion. Skeletal muscles are attached to bones and can move them voluntarily. Although numerous mathematical models of muscles have been developed, most of them consider muscle behavior under specific conditions only. Motivated by the fact that the existing muscle models are very limited under arbitrary conditions of activation and loading, we here first sumarize the extension of Hill’s model to include different fiber types and then implement the extended model to the analysis of musculoskeletal systems. The proposed models are verified by comparing the calculated results with experimental measurements and data from literature. In order to provide efficient modeling of muscles and musculoskeletal systems, a software for automatic muscle generation using medical images has been developed and incorporated into the general-purpose finite element program PAK. The muscle models and the developed software can be used as a powerful tool in designing medical and sport equipment, planning trainings and analyzing exercises, to prevent work injuries and significantly reduce costs for individuals and society.